Living with terminal cancer, Kristine Burke has both good and bad days.

Lately, the bad has been trying to pull ahead.

"We're just getting through it," said the Framingham resident, who lives on Highgate Road with her husband, Ben, and daughter, Skyler, 5. "But we've gone through a rough patch."

On top of dealing with stage four cancer, Burke, 44, lost her teaching job at Brophy Elementary School last year, which has left her family swamped with bills.

"It's a fortune for them to pay the chemo and radiation bills," said her brother, Joe Houle, who added the Burkes are filing for bankruptcy and are on the brink of foreclosure.

That's why the Kentucky resident has started a campaign to raise some money for the family, as well as bring attention to the plight of cancer patients like Burke, who lost her affordable health insurance along with her job. So far the mostly online effort has brought in around $3,000 from family and friends all over the country.

"We were trying to figure out, 'How do we help?'" Houle said. "She's always been my hero - she was always everybody else's rock. Now it's time for us to be her rock."

Burke originally was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, which she was able to beat into remission. But after she briefly interrupted her treatment to safely give birth to Skyler, the cancer came back, stronger, Houle said.

"I knew it was something of a risk," Burke said of her decision. "But I wouldn't go back and do it any differently."

Skyler, who is entering kindergarten this fall, is "way above and beyond the normal kid," Burke said. "She's great at deflecting this stuff."

But the family has started to bring her to a counselor to prepare her for what they fear is inevitable at this point.

"(My sister) is in constant pain," said Houle, who added Burke has been told by her doctors "she'll be on chemo for the rest of her life."

Adding to Burke's pain is the separation from her career of 18 years, the last three of which she spent in Framingham. She said even with the cancer, she would have been able enough to continue teaching this past year.

"It's been kind of a struggle," she said. "I loved my job - I loved teaching. To stop working ... it was horrible on all accounts."

Currently on private disability, which will end soon, Burke said she at least now has more time to spend with Skyler and Ben, who "is doing the best he can."